Sir Robert Paston

Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth, FRS (29 May 1631 – 8 March 1683) was an English scientist and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1673 when he was created Viscount Yarmouth. He was created Earl of Yarmouth in 1679.

Paston was the son of Sir William Paston, 1st Baronet of Oxnead and his first wife Lady Katherine Bertie, daughter of Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey. He was educated at Westminster School and was a student of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1646. He travelled abroad in France. In 1660 he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Thetford in the Convention Parliament. He was knighted on 27 May 1660.

In 1661 Paston was elected MP for Castle Rising and sat until 1673, when he had to relinquish his seat on being raised to the peerage as Viscount Yarmouth. He had inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1663. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk on 6 March 1676, retaining the office until his death. He was created the 1st Earl of Yarmouth in 1679.

Following the creation of the Royal Society in 1660, he was accepted as an Original Fellow on 20 May 1663. With another Fellow, Thomas Henshaw, he attempted to discover a formula for the fabled "red elixir", another name for the philosopher's stone which alchemists believed could transmute base metals into gold. In a letter to Sir Thomas Browne he informed the Norwich physician-philosopher of his alchemical experiments -

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